Colorful fish swim in blue water.

an adult and baby coelacanth specimens on display

Meet the Coelacanth

Learn about the fish that was once thought to be extinct.

Read More

Featured Content

Clever Measures Track Fishing Pressures

A Honduran small-scale fisherman on a boat setting out to fish.

August 2018

Tough Teeth and Parrotfish Poop

A blue parrotfish hides among coral.

March 2018

Fish Get Risky Around Oil

On coral reefs fish are important links in the food chain that sustains higher-order predators (including humans) and keeps everything in balance.

September 2017

Why the Littlest Fish Matter a Whole Lot

A tornado of sardines swirls around diver and photographer Erwin Poliakoff in the Philippines.

May 2015

Following the Akule

A school of akule (Hawaiian for bigeye scad) explode into a camera's frame.

August 2015

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans see fish lesson plans

Fish Articles

The Complicated Tale of Salmon and Trout

a graphic of 10 illustrated fish

June 2022

When Life Gives You Lionfish…

A woman stands holding a white tray that displays lionfish jewelry.

July 2017

Slideshow

Fish Illustrations

Anglerfish Lure Prey Throughout the Ocean

a hairy frogfish with a dark background

September 2024

Surprising Results Upon Reexamining the Curious Jaw of the Moray Eel

A brown and white dragon moray eel with its mouth open.

September 2019

Love Salmon? Listen Up.

Cut of Atlantic Salmon on a Plate

December 2010

Behind the Photo: The Primal Ocean

Red Pigfish and Blue Mao-Mao school at the edge of a cavern in New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands. Read photographer Brian Skerry's story behind this photo.

October 2012

Scientists Find First Ultra-Black Color in Deep-Sea Fishes

The ultra-black Pacific blackdragon forms a circular shape with its body.

July 2020

Tagged Mahi Mahi swimming in clear water.

Video

Satellite Tagging Captive Mahi Mahi

This shrimp is colored to fit in - probably why they are common members of the seaweed community.

Slideshow

A World Adrift: Life in the Sargassum Slideshow

Fish Heart Out of Water

A green mahi-mahi fish underwater

June 2018

Peanut Butter and Jellyfish

Overfishing is leading to an abundance of less desirable species like jellyfish.

November 2010